Device for the feeding of sliver in draw frames for cotton or other textile fibers



Aug. 29, 1961 VELLA DEVICE FOR THE FEEDING OF SLIVER IN DRAW FRAMES FOR COTTON OR OTHER TEXTILE FIBERS Filed Dec. l0, 1957 FLUTES United States Patent 2,997,749 DEVICE FOR THE FEEDING 0F SLIVER 1N DRAW FRAMES FOR COTTON OR OTHER TEXTILE FIBERS Luigi Vella, Cogozzo Valtrompia, Brescia, Italy Filed Dec. 10, 1957, Ser. No. 701,828 Claims priority, application Italy Dec. 14, 1956 1 Claim. (Cl. 19-157) The invention relates to means for the feeding of sliver in draw frame for cotton or other textile fibers.

The sliver produced by the cards is collected in cylindrical vessels and is treated in the draw frame, in which frame such sliver is joined with another sliver also contained in vessels, to again secure a single sliver when such sliver leaves the draw frame following its treatment therein.

The vessels containing the sliver are generally placed behind the draw frame in a limited number of rows parallel to the longitudinal axis of the machine, so that it is possible for the operator to interchange the empty vessels or pots with full units being able to reach the feed-rollers for the sliver, with his hands.

The present trend toward a shortening of the working day .and the elimination of idle periods has led to ,a steady increase in capacity of the equipment including the vessels or pots for the slivers. This greater capacity was acquired by an increase of the diameter of the pot, which meant that the space requirements were higher, and the pot arrangement in a number of rows prevented the operator from having free access to the feed rollers of the draw frame.

Hence, it was necessary to arrange the pots in a number of rows normal to the longitudinal axis of the draw frame and for each unit thereof, whereby more space was required as regards the width dimension and between every two rows there was left a passageway permitting free access by the operator to the draw frame for the purposes of performing the necessary operations.

Owing to such arrangement, however, there arose a new diffioulty, namely, that the section of sliver from the pot immediately adjacent the draw frame to the feed rollers was considerably smaller than the section of sliver fed to the same rollers from the farthest pot.

Inasmuch as the sliver is composed of loosely connected (fibers, it is apparent that the frictional effect existing between the fibers is not sufficient to resist the stresses imposed by pull or traction, without resulting in mutual displacement of the fibers in the stressed area, which displacement is objectionable in the latter processing steps.

The present invention enables the use of pots of large volumetric capacity, and thereby long slivers without any objectionable stretching arising along the path of movement of the sliver, and all the slivers compacting in one unit of the draw frame even if the sliver emanates from pots located at varying distances, have the same tension at the feedrollers. Furthermore, the operator charged with the interchanging of the pots, and for necessary operation at the draw frame has easy access to such components.

The device according to the invention has the following essential characteristics:

The sliver is taken from the pots approximately vertically and is brought to the feed rollers by driven rollers which exert upon each sliver section a traction proportional to the length of the section.

The sliver which is compacted in each draw frame unit possesses uniform tension and the arrangement thereof is the same for all of the units of the draw frame.

The rollers are driven by rigid transmission means and the transmission is accessible only if several components are dismantled, thereby eliminating danger of injury to the operator.

The invention is made more fully clear hereinafter with reference to an example of embodiment as diagrammatically represented in the drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the device in operation,

FIGURE 2 is a top view thereof, and

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View of the drive gear for each pair of rollers.

The device includes a stationary tubular framing as-. sembly 1 which carries a plurality of spaced apart casings 2, and each casing is provided with a cover or lid 3. In each of the casings 2 is supported a transversely extending shaft 4, the ends of which project beyond the sides i of the casing, and each projecting portion carries a fluted roller 5. At approximately the mid-point of each shaft 4 and within the casing 2 is located a worm gear 6. Each worm gear 6 is in mesh with a worm wheel 7 secured to shafts 8 supported within the respective casings 2 by bearings 11. Each of the worm wheels 7 is connected which supports the pair of rollers closest to the draw frame is of such length as to extend a substantial distance beyond each of the rollers and at such extended sections being indicated 12 and 13, respectively. The free end of the section 12 carries a gear box 14, which, by virtue of gear means therein, is connected with gear means in a further box 15 operatively coupled to the first roller 16 of the draw frame F. By virtue of the extended section 13, it is possible to drive at least one or more groups of similar pairs of rollers 5 and their associated components arranged in spaced parallel relationship. In other words, there will be sufiicient groups of roller pairs to correspond to the total width of the draw frame F, there being a group of roller pairs 5 for each two units of the draw frame.

As shown in FIGURE 1, under each roller 5 there is provided a ring-shaped element 21 suitably secured to the casing 2 of such rollers serving to guide the sliver 19 moving upwardly from vessel or pot 20 located therebeneath. Rearwardly of the roller pair 5 adjacent the draw frame F there is located a comb 17 by which the sliver portions are maintained apart from one another and are introduced into the feed roller 16 via guide roll 1-8. The length and the diameter of the fluted rollers depend on the number of sliver portions and the length of the sliver sections forwardly of the draw frame.

The operation of the assembly is as follows:

Upon starting the operation of the draw frame, the rollers 16 rotate to introduce the sliver 19 into the frame and the gear means located within the boxes 14 and 15 impart rotary movement to section 12, which section, through worm gear 6 and worm wheel 7 in the casing 2 effects rotation of the shaft 8 and simultaneously rotation of the remaining transverse shafts 4. Consequently, all of the pairs of rollers 5 are rotated, and there is no danger of the sliver moving over such rollers being improperly stretched between successive pairs of rollers due to the rigidity of the transmission assembly.

The sliver portions 19 moving upwardly from the vessels 20 are thus guided and carried by the roller pairs 5 to the feed rollers 16 of the draw frame, and it will be seen that there are four sliver portions 19 for each pair of rollers. In other words, there are two sliver portions for each fluted roller 5 from the vessels 20 arranged thereunder. The sliver portions from the pots arranged in one row are united and are introduced into one unit of the draw frame, the sliver portions of the pots nearest to 3 the draw frame being guided only over one roller 5, while the sliver portions from the most distantly removed pots are guided over a number of rollers 5, in accordance with the distance of the respective pot from the draw frame. In that'way, the sliver portions are introduced into the draw frame not only by the feed roller, but run at determined distances over driven rollers 5 so that they are not subjected to excessive stress by pull or traction and are not apt to break.

The ring-shaped elements 21 and the comb 17 keep the individual sliver portions apart from one another and in the respetcive directions of movement, so that they cannot become entangled or enmeshed.

The rollers 5 possess preferably different diameters according to their distance from the draw frame, and, therefore, different peripheral speeds, with the peripheral speed decreasing with increasing distance from the draw frame, so that any slipping between the sliver portions and the rollers as well as any sagging of sliver between subsequent rollers are compensated for. The sliver portions on entering the feed roller pair 16 of the draw frame possess the same tension with satisfactory approximation. This condition means that the rollers next to the draw frame, if all of the rollers are supposed to have equal angular speed (number of revolutions per unit of time), possess larger diameters than the distantly re moved rollers.

Of course the invention is not limited to the form of embodiment described, and numerous variants are possible within its scope.

I claim:

In a draw frame for cotton and other textile fibers having a feeding roller, means for feeding sliver portions to the draw frame, such feeding means including shaft means extending perpendicularly to the feeding roller, a plurality of spaced apart transverse shafts, complementa'lmeshing gear means on the shaft means and each of said transverse shafts, a drive connection between the feeding roller and the transverse shaft adjacent the draw frame, whereby rotation of the feeding roller imparts rotation to the shaft means and the transverse shafts, a roller means on each transverse shaft on opposite sides of the complemental gear means, sliver containing vessels arranged below said rollers and from which vessels the sliver portions are guided to and moved by said rollers to the feeding roller thereby ensuring uniform tension on the sliver portions, and the roller means on the transverse shafts being of different diameters, with the roller means closer to the draw frame having the greater diameters. 

